On Sharing Your Work With Others

I'm very careful about who I share my novel with. I've learned over the years that getting the wrong feedback at the wrong time can stop a writer's progress in its tracks--and even make some writers doubt whether they have any talent at all. It's crucial to share at the right time, with the right people--and the people closest to you may not be the right people to share your work with.

Your first few chapters and your first draft are a particularly tricky time to share your work. Your work is essentially still in flux before your first few editing passes, and it's your first time seeking an outside opinion on your novel. Here are a few tips for choosing those all-important first readers for your book.

Share with people who know your genre. Not everyone will get what you're trying to do--and the first draft, which is usually quite shaky even for books that become strong later, isn't the time to test your book's crossover appeal. The idea with your first critique is to share with someone who can give you technical feedback on how to make your draft better--and they'll be able to help you better if they know the conventions of your genre. In addition, if they have a subconscious dislike of your genre, you might get some critique that has to do more with your genre's conventions--which you should adhere to, in most cases--than with your writing. If you can, choose someone for your first pass who is familiar with your genre--or at least doesn't hate it.

Share with people who know writing. You're likely to get more out of your feedback if you share with other writers--at least at first. They'll be able to give you solid, constructive feedback on how you build your characters, your plot, your tension and so on. I've shared early drafts with non-writers before and sometimes gotten comments that were vague and unhelpful, but also unsettling--they didn't like certain things but didn't know why. That's not to say every non-writer will do that--but a writer is likely to have a better idea of how to critique and provide a different perspective on how to make things better.

Share with people who will give you honest feedback--in a positive way. Don't share with anyone who feels the need to mark their territory. Some readers might feel like they have to prove their own expertise by dragging you down--and these are not helpful readers for any stage of your writing or editing process. Choose people who are supportive, positive, and believe in your talent--but who will give it to you straight in a way you can take.

Don't share before you're really ready. I don't consider myself ready to share my novel until I've finished it and gone through the editing process at least twice--until I feel it's as good as I can make it on my own. Before then, any chapter could change significantly as I hone my draft. There is no way I will share opening chapters of my book before I've finished the whole thing--until I've done a read-through, I have no idea what I'll keep and what I'll wind up throwing out, and the beginning stages are when you're the most vulnerable to negative feedback.

Sharing with a close loved one? Be very careful. Sometimes I take negative feedback very personally from people very close to me--people like boyfriends and family members. Your critiquers have to keep emotion out of their feedback, but as the writer you should take emotion out of your response--and I find that to be very difficult with the people I'm closest to. I share with trusted friends, but never with boyfriends--and I wouldn't unless the guy I was dating was an outstanding writer with a thorough understanding of the critique process, an awareness of my sensitivity and a real love of the genre I was working in.

The best critique partners--particularly in the earliest stages--are close, trusted friends who are also writers and understand the type of writing you're trying to do. Be careful of those whose critique will affect you strongly on an emotional level--including significant others and people who are relentlessly negative. And take all critique with a grain of salt--don't let one negative review lead you to give up. Most important of all, don't share before you're ready--make your project as good as it can be before you let it out into the world.